Valve



N v. 7, 1961 K. ADAMS 3,007,487

VALVE Filed April 21, 1959 2 Shee'ts-Sheet 1 Jnvenfor:

nitc i States Pat t1t C)flic 3,007,487 Patented Nov. 7, 1961 Claims priority, applicatioh Germany Apr. 21, 1958 Clams. (Cl. 137-495) The invention relates to valves and more particularly to a vane-type valve suitable as a check valve'in pipe lines of large internal diameter such as the pipe lines -of public water supply systems, bui; -a.lso useful as a shutofl valve. I

Valves for pipe lines canying large volumes of liquid atrelatively low pressure present specific problems. They should close rapidly and securely, bu"t cannot be permitted to cause shock waves in the column of liquid the flow of which is being interrupted. They also should be of simple and rugged construction to permit long uninterrupted scrvice without maintenance under the conditions of water supply operation.

It is, therefore, a primary object ci? the invention t Provide a check valve suitable for operation in pipelines 0f large diameter.

Another object is the provision of such acheckvalve Which opens and closes rapidly and completely.

Yet another objcct is to provide a check valve which is capable of closing smoothly withutcausing water hainrner, or a sh'ock'wave, to be generated in a column of liquid, the flow Of which is being interrupted.

An additional object is the provision of a check valve adapted to achieve the objects enumer ated above and suitable simultaneously to act as a shut-ol valve.

A further object is to provide a valve which is simple and rugged in its construction and capable of maintenance-free operation over an extended period of time. 7 With these and other objects in view, the invention provides a valve arrangement including a valve housing formed with a passage for flow of a fluid therethrough, and a valve member mounted in the housing for movement toward and away from a position in which the valve membr obstructs the passage in the valve housing and separates two portions of the passage from each other. Furthermore, cylinder means are provided together with double-acting piston means reciprocably movable in the cylinder means and h aving, two faces extending transversely of the direction of movement of the Referr ing now to the drawihg, there is shown'a short length of cylindrical pipe 1 provided with welding flanges 2 at the two open ends thereof. The pipe length 1 together With the flanges 2 constitutes the housing of the Valve thrcugh which a fluid the flow of which is bo be controlled by the valve may pass in an axial direction. A tubular sleeve 4 coaxial with the pipe 1 and circumferentially attached thereto forrns an area of restricted cross section in the pipe 1 interrhediate the ends thereof. The -bore of the sleeve 4 tapers inwardly from the orifices of the sleeve. A vane 5 ismovably arranged in the passage formed by the pipe 1 and the sleeve 4 and is adapted to seal the passage when positined in aplane slightly inclined relative to a perpendicularly transverse plane in the passag of the pipe 1, as indicated by the broken lines in FIG. l.

Whenthe vane is in the open position indicated at 5'- by a line of alternate dots and dashes it interfere'sbut 've'ry little With the flow, o-f fluid through the passage because of its shape.

The vane5 includes a hub portion 6 from which a longer Wing portion 7 and a shorter wing portion 8 extend in opposite directions and taper in thickness in a direction away from the hub portion 6 toward rounded edges which cooperate With the sleeve 4 in such a man'ner as to form a substantially tight seal and to prevent rotation of the vane 5 throgh more than one half turn. In all piston means in the cylinder means so as to define two respective spaces in the cylinder means.

Two conduits respectively comunicate with one. of the afore-mentioned portions of the passage in the valve housing and with one of the piston-defined spaces in the cylinder means. This arrangement causes the pressures -prevailing in the two portions of the housing passage to be transmitted to the spaces in the cylinder means for actuating movement of the double-acting piston means. Connecting means are provided and are engageable With the piston means and the valve member for actuating movement of the-latter responsive to the pressures prevailing in the passage portions. 7

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together With adlitional objects and advantages thereof, Will be best understoocl from the following description of specific embodiment when read in connection with the ac- .companying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational sectionalvicw of a preferred FIG. 2 is a front elevational sectional view of the device of FIG. 1 taken on the line 11-11 of FIG. 1.

positions of the vane 5, the lnger Wing portion 7 is 'axially displaced in a downstream direction from the shorter Wing portion 8. V The vane 5 is moun tedin the valve housin'g 3 by rfrieahs of a shaft9ofl which it is fixedly fa-ste'ned'by means of keys 10 engaging corresponding keyWays 11 in the hub portion 6. The shaft 9 is passing th'roughthe vane 5 along an eccentric lime so that flowof fluid through the valve housing 3 in the directionbf airw 12 tendS to keep the valve open. As best seen from FIG. 2, the shaft 9 is rotatedly mounted in the pipe 1 by means of bearing bushings 13 and 14 fixedly securecl in the pipe 1 and extending into openngs of the sleeve 4 so as to hold the latte'r in an axially fixed position in the valve housing '3. The bearing bushing 13 has a reinforcing flange 15 welded thereto and to the outside of the pipe 1. A bearing cover 16 is bolted tothe flange 15 and is formed With a central de"- pressing serving as a seat for a bearig hall 17 interposed between thecover 16 and one of the transvers'e end faces of the shaft 9.

The bearing bushing 14 extends outwrdly from the pipe 1 through a mating opening in a cylindrically arciate bottom member 18 of a housing 19. The curvature of the bottom member 18 is the same as that of the pipe 1 j'and the bottom inember 18 extends over a crved circular 'the bearing bushing 14. The housing 19 is secured to the bottom member 18 by means of bolts 21 passing through a flange portion of the housing.

A cylinder 22 having a stepped cylindrical bere is secured to the valve. It encloses a diflerential dble- ,aeting pist0n 23 which has a piston face 23a of s'maller effective surface area in the portion of the cylinder 22 of smaller cross sectional area, and a larger piston face, 23b in the pdrtion of the cylinder 22 of larger cro'ss sectional area. The piston 23 is reciprocally movable in the cylinder 22 and transmits its movement by means of a pi st on rod24 to arack 25. I

The piston rod 234 passes through a guide-sleeve 27 in a cylinder head 26 which is attached bywelding: to the 'husing 19. The cylinder 22. is threadedly secured tothe eylnder head 26. T nsure passage of the piston rod 24 through the cylinder head 26 without leakage, a sealing washer 28 is arranged adjacent the guide sleeve 27. Wln'lethe cylincler heacl 26 provides a transverse wall for. thecylinglen space of small cross sectionl areaopposite the piston face 23a, the cylinder space of larger diameter is closecl by a flanged cover 29 opposite. the piston face 23h. The cylnder spaces are respectively connected With the passage ;in.the valve houslng 3 by means of conduits 30 and 31 made of small diameter tubing. The eonduits transmit the pressures prevailing in the valve hous ing at.pointe P and P that is upstream and downs trearn pf ;the vane 5. to the respective cylinder spaces. Relief vents 32 in the cylinder 22 permit esc pe of any liquid le ak;ing past -t l1e -eylindrical interface between the pston 1 dfi1 4 9Y i' -l\llovement of the raclr 25 is guded by a flanged guide wheel.33 rotatably mounted in the husing 19 and guiding the ra elc into engagement With a pinon 34 whch is mounted; on the shaft 9, as best seen. in FIG. 2.. The pinionfl4 isireely rotatable on the shaft 9 and is axilly seeured.,thereqn by two collare 35 and 36, collar 36 engagin a correspnding recess in the Piniori 34. The pinion 34 i s provlded.with eight eq1riangulzirly spaced eon centric axial recesses 37for engagirrg correspondiflglyarrarrged entraining I i1 1s.38v 011 a k:rcular disc 39. The dise 39 -i s axlallyslidable on the shaft 9 and is seeured thereon against rotatior1 by means of keys 40.

The =pins,38 projeet axially from both circular faces of the dise 39 for alternate engagement of the disc with eith er the pinio n 34 oraworm wheel 41 which is'freely rotatable on.the sbaft 9 and ls held in afixed axal position by collars 42 and 43 in the same mannr as the plniop 34.: Theworm wheel 41 Cdoperates with a worm ,44 with whlch it forms a self-lockirig worm gear. The worm 44 is fixedly,fastened on a shaft 45 which is rotat ably mounted in the housing 19.and has a free end prbjeeting.outwardly f1'or nthefhousing 19' a11d aha'ndwheel 46 mou.nte d on the free end.

The axial positior of the eirclar disc 39.is djustable by means of an arrangernent whlc'hincldS an annulr -groove.47 in the cylindrical surface of the disc 39 and Iacl ial Pi !S 48.S1iglably engagng the groove 47. Axial moverr1entof tl1e.pins 48, and the'r eby of the disc 39,.is actuated.by a shftirrg lever 49 fixedly secured to a resi ljer1t.forked inember 50 which is pivotally 'mounted on the hopsng 19 by means of a pivot pn 51. The free ends of the two arnis f the forked. :r1ember 50 carry the plus 48. The forkedmember is so dimensioned that it i s under resilint stress when the.disc 39 is in the neutra] position, that is, out of enagement With both. the piniorf1 34 and the worm wheel 39. The resilient force of forked member. 50 urges shlftiflg di the wheel into engagemer 1t -with.either one of pnion 34 and Worrn Wheel 41 with whch the disc forms a clutch. The positions of the shiftin'g lever 49 in the relaxed condition of the forked member 50 are schematically ndicated in FIG. 2 by linesof dots and dashes'. The fully drawn positionof the shifting lever 49 corresponds to a metastab-le condition of the shifttg arrangement.

The ax ial Psition of the shaft 9 is adjustable for mini'mum friction bymeans o f a thrut block 52 axially adjpstable byan adjsting screw 53. The screw 53 is threadedftnto a mating opening of the housing 19 and is -czqrallple.f being arrested in the adjusted position by means ,a look nut. The thrust block 52 has a central depres- 'son vvhich forms a seat for the bearing ball 17 whch issrrfilrly.seated in .an axial depression in the opposite end .face of the shaft 9.

ward movement as seen in FIG. 1, the pin 54 partially plugs the orifice of the conduit 30.

The afore-deseribed valve operates as follows:

When it is desired to move the vane 5- from its closed position toward the operi po'sition indicated at 5' in FIG. 1, the shifting lever 49 &s rr1oved into its lower position as shown in FIG. 2 and the dic 39 is erlgaged with the worm wheel -41. BecaSe of the Self-lockng feature of the worm gear formed by the Wheel 41 and the worm 44, the vane 5 is W arrested in its c1sed positon. Rota: tion of the band wheel 46 causes the valve to open until it reache s its vvid open position when the valle is at 5'. 'If the valve is to be operated as a shut-ol valve only, the shifting lever 49, is left in its lower positon and the vane is locked by the Worm gea'r in its open posltin 5". 7 When it is desiredtbat the valve operate as.a check valve, that is, that.it open WCI1 the pressure P is greater than the presure P the shifting leve'r is move'cl into its upper .position, aud.th entra-ing pins 38 are engaged W'lth the airial fecesse's 37 for joir'1t movement of the circular disk: 39 with the binion 34. ,Transrnissin of the press ores P P.throu"gh the conduits 30 and 31 to the spaces of the Cyliidr 22 will cause movementof the pston 23 to the right, as viewed in FIG. 1, When the pressur e P whi'ch aets,npon the smaller piston face 23a exerts a gr'ea'te'rforce tha"n the pressure P,acting on the larger piston face23b. Movement of the pistdn 23 toward the fight is join'ed by the Piston rod 24 and the rack 25..WhiCh rtat'est'he pinioh 24, and thereby the shaft 9 withfthe vane 5 in a eountercloclcwise direction.

. Thejr'atio of the press'ures P and P decreases as the valve 'op'er1s bult. it jcan, never reach a value of 1, as long as 'fluid,flbWsin th e d irection of the arrow 12., becuseofihe resi sfanceolfered to the flow of the fluld by the slee/e 4 and the vane5, Wlien the valve is fully open, theforees acting on the piston faces 23a and 23b are, thereforb,apbroxiniately eqal. Opening of. the valve, liowevejr, is favred by the eecentric location of the slift 9 ir1..the vane 5.

Whh.flow f Lfluid, tlrr'ough -the valvebousrrg 3 completelysbs'ideS a'i'1dthe pressure P becomesequal to the pressure l, the force .exerted on the piston face 23b is slight-l'y grei1terthan that exerted in the opposte direction on the pistoi1 face 23121 and the valve slowly closes. If the pressure P bec orrres greater 'than pressure P that is, j'nthe event of backward flow tbroughthe housng 3 cntraryto the arrovv 12, the valve 5 is closed rapidly. Ths ,closing y movement is not only actuated by the great er force Io,f the greter pressure actng on the larger piston face. 23b, bt also by.the rotary moment caused by backvar'd floW against the langer wing portion 7 of the ,Vane 5. 4

The ,combiried fo'rces urging the vane 5 into the closed position in'erease during the closing operation. Still, the

,vane can'riot close so 1a'pidly as to cause a shock wave and water hammer to be created in a column of lquid .the flow.of which is interrupted. During the terminal stage of the above closing pr ocess, the dilferental piston 23 acts as a brke pon the movement of the vane 5 under. thejrotary force exerted by the longer wing portion 7. The conduits 30 and 31 areof such a small cross section that they have a throttling elect on the flow of fluid into or .out of the cylinder 22 at a high speed of vane movemnt. It .will be readily understood by those skrflled in theart vthat the same throttlng effect may be achieved without departng from the sprit of the present invention by maldng' the conduits 30 and 31 of relatively large diametr and by arranging a throttling valve of either fixed or adjustable throat opening in at least one of the conduits.

The final phase of vane motion during the closing str'oke of the valve is furthermofe braked by the .engagement of the pin 54'with the orifice of the conduit 30 vvhich is partially pl1 1gged bythe pin as the aiston 23 approaches the extreme position on itS le ftWafd Strke,

as viewed in FIG. 1. The braking effect is thus enhanced at the moment at which it is most critically required to ensure smooth and gradual closing of the valve. It Will be obvious that the very simple pin arrangement illustrated may be replaced by any other valve means gradually obstructing fluid flow through the conduit 30 as the piston 23 approaches the end of its valve-closing stroke.

It Will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in ther types of valves differing from the types described above.

While -the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in vane-type valve, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made wi-thout departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

As the piston 23 With separate drive of the valve must not in all cases be decoupled the pinion 34 may be rigidly connected to the pin of the shaft 9. Then only a detachable coupling of the worm wheel 41 is necessary. When operating the valve by the worm gear also the piston 23 -is then moved, which however is not disadvantageous.

Without further analysis, the foregoing Will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications With0ut omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential 4 characteristics of the generic or specific aspects f tlliS invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a check valve, in combination, a valve housing formed With a passage for flow of fluid therethrough; a butterfiy valve member mounted in said housing for turnin-g movement about an axis eccentric to said passage and between an open position and a closed position separating two portions of said passage from each other, fluid flowing through said passage in one direction tending to open said butterfly valve member, and fluid flowing in the opposite direction tending to close said butterfly valve member; a cylinder; a differential double-acting piston movably mounted in said cylinder and having a smaller piston face defining a first chamber, and a larger piston face defining a second chamber in said cylinder, said first charnber communicating With the portion of said passage located upstream, and said second chamber communicating With the portion of said passage located downstream When the fluid flows in said one direction so that a small pressure differential Will be compensated on said piston during flow of fluid in said one direction, while flow of fluid in said opposite direction Will simultaneously actuate said piston and tend to move said butterfly valve member to said closed position; connecting means connecting said piston With said butterfly valve member so that said butterfly valve member moves to said closed position when said piston is actuated by fluid flowing in said opposite direction; and operating means operatively connected to said butterfly valve member for moving the same between said open and closed positions independently of the hydraulic forces tending to actuate said butterfly valve member, and including means for disconnecting said operating means from said butterfly valve member.

2. In a check valve, in combination, a valve housing formed With a passage for flow of fluid therethrough; a butterfly valve member mounted in said housing for tuming movernent about an axis eccentric lo said passage and between an open position and a closed pesition separating two portions of said passage from each other, fluid flowing through said passage in one direction tending to open said butterfly valve member, and fluid flowing in the apposite direction tending to close said butterfly valve member; a cylinder; a diflerential double-acting piston movably mounted in said cylinder and having a smaller piston face defining a first charnber, and a larger piston tace defining a second chamber in said cylinder, a first throttling conduit connecting said first chamber With the portion of said passage located upstrearn, and a second throttling conduit connecting said second chamber With the portion of said passage located downstream when the fluid flows in said one direction so that a small pressure dilerential Will be compensated on said piston during flow 0f fluid in said one direction, while flow of fluid in said opposite direction Will simultaneously actuate said piston and tend to move said butterfly valve member to said closed position; throttling means on said piston located in said first chamber and closing said first throttling conduit When said piston is actuated by flow of fluid in said opposite direction =to approach the respecrive terminal position thereof; connectin g means connecting said piston with said butterfly valve member so that said butterfly valve member moves to said closed posi-tion when said piston is actuated by fluid flowing in said opposite direction; and operating means operatively connected to said butterfly valve member for moving the same between said open and closed positions independently of the hydraulic forces tending lo actuate said butterfly valve member, and including means for disconnecting said operating means from said butterl'ly valve member.

3. A check valve as set forth in clam 2, said operating means including manually operated means for moving said butterfly valve member between said open and closed positions.

4. A check valve as set forth in claim 3 wherein said connecting means include a rack bar fixedly connected to said piston, and a gear connected to said butterfly valve member for rotation and meshing With said rack bar.

5. A check valve as set fonth in claim 2 wherein said operating means includes a manually turnable member, a worrn screw connected to said manually turnable member for rotation therewith, a worm gear meshing with said wonn screw, said disconnecting means being movable between a coupling position and a disconnecting position, said disconnecting means being operatively connected to said butterfly valve member so that the same can be turned by said manually operated member in said coupling position of said disconnecting. means References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,681,762 Connet Aug. 21, 1928 1967981 Thomas July 24, 1934 2,390,882 I-Iopkins Dec. 11, 1945 2,882,869 Krapf Apr. 21, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 3,326 Great Britain Sept. 23, 1875 

